Knockout victim never knew what hit him

WORCESTER — Michael J. Davis was heading to get his iced French vanilla latté from Dunkin' Donuts on Main Street on a recent Friday morning, when, in a flash, he was on the ground. Blacked out and with excruciating pain in his head, he was scooped off the road by people near the Mekong International Market.

PHOTO/ T&G Staff/PAUL KAPTEYN

Michael Davis stands Tuesday in front of 747 Main St., where he was knocked unconscious by an unknown assailant.

WORCESTER — Michael J. Davis was heading to get his iced French vanilla latté from Dunkin' Donuts on Main Street on a recent Friday morning, when, in a flash, he was on the ground.

Blacked out and with excruciating pain in his head, he was scooped off the road by people near the Mekong International Market. He eventually managed to walk home to 707 Main St., blood pouring from his mouth.

The 56-year-old isn't sure what happened. He wondered if he had been attacked by a man who threatened him with a weapon and was later arrested. He wondered if it was a random attack.

"If it is a game, that is a really sorry thing to be doing to people," Mr. Davis said. "I could have been killed. It's my head, my brain."

Mr. Davis said he has multiple fractures in his face and lost seven teeth. His days are now being filled with hospital visits and upcoming surgeries.

Three attacks in the past month are being reviewed by investigators as possibly being instances of the "knockout game." The attacks were in the areas of Main Street, Millbury Street and Chatham Street.

Mr. Davis is one of two 56-year-olds injured in the attacks. A third victim, a 23-year-old man, was not seriously hurt. Police have not publicly named any of the victims, but Mr. Davis came forward to the T&G on his own.

Police are warning people to be cautious while walking alone, especially if they are approached by a stranger. In all three local attacks, the victims were walking alone when they were approached by a male they didn't know, and were hit in the head, police said.

"At this time, it is unknown if these assaults are conducted by the same suspect or carried out by different individuals," police said in a news release. "There have been no other reported assaults in the city this year that resemble these incidents."

There is limited information about suspects in the three incidents. Some of the victims were blindsided. Mr. Davis said he never got a look at his attacker.

"You would think something like this (his injuries) would come from an accident, or (being) hurt on your job, not just walking down the street," he said. "All this violence, man. It's crazy. In America you don't think it would be like this."

Worcester police had been keeping an eye on this trend across the country, but hadn't seen any signs of it here until recently.

Sitting in his apartment, the bruise under his left eye obvious, Mr. Davis said he had heard about the "knockout game" while living in Boston a year ago.

Mr. Davis sees the police officers walking the foot beats in Main South, clearing drugs dealers out of the area and curtailing prostitution, but as a victim of a recent attack he wants more officers in the area.

"Now when I walk the streets, I'm always looking over my head," he said. "When people get close, I'm a little nervous and scared."